Custom Motor Controller for Robotics Applications

Project Sponsor: Nate Edwards
[Edwards Robotics Company]

1 Project Overview
A local start up company needs a motor controller board for a golf course robot. The robot roams the driving range of the golf course, picking up balls as it goes. This product will reduce the work on the golf course staff by automating the repetitive process of picking up the range. The robot is currently using a proprietary motor board that allows for control over one motor. This setup requires using two boards controlled by a separate micro controller for two wheel control. The robot is also very robust as it will be running while people are using the practice range.

This project is to design a new motor board. The board must deliver at least 40 amps to the motors, interface to the robot's micro controller, and have multiple channels to control all the motor needs of the robot. This project can be expanded to offer up to 60A of current and offer six channels. The board will be implemented inside the current prototype of the robot, so it must meet the space requirements, as well as the heat requirements of the bot.

With proper design, the motor controller board will be general purpose so it can be sold as a stand alone product. While the board must still meet all the requirements of the golf range robot, it must also have the ability to work in other products so that, along with a complete documentation set, it can be sold by the start up as another source of revenue. This expanded purpose will provide another avenue of use for the project.

Another important aspect of this project is the cost. The cost must be less than $120. The cost of the project will allow for lowered manufacturing costs as well as future sales for the stand alone product. Because there are already motor control board products available on the market, this project must provide a cost effective solution for the start up. It is also important to keep costs down because of the customer. A start up business cannot afford to buy inflated boards for all of its products. This project will offer a price effective solution that can help get the business off and running.

Minimum requirements

  • Drive motors up to 40A
  • Independent Channels for each motor
  • Interface to Microcontroller
  • Under $125 for first channel
  • Under $75 for each additional channel

Desired requirements

  • Drive motors up to 60A
  • Independent Channels for each motor
  • Interface to Microcontroller
  • Under $100 for first channel
  • Under $50 for each additional channel
  • Overall Fully Tested, Interface available for further implementation.

2 Needs Identification and Background Research
3 System Requirements and Desired Features
4 Design Solutions
5 Top Level Block Design

6 Testing

7 Project Timeline
8 Budget
9 Expo Materials

Contact information

Additional information

References